Apparatus for carrying and adjustably positioning elongated articles



' Sept. 30, 1952 G E. WHEELER 2,612,366

APPARATUS FOR CARRYING AND ADJUSTABLY POSITIONING ELONGATED ARTICLES Filed Dec. 2, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 1 N I GLENN E.WHEELER qwr'ozamYs.

Sept. 30, 1952 e. E. WHEELER APPARATUS FOR CARRYING AND ADJUSTABLY POSITIONING ELONGATED ARTICLES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 2, 1948 .E III INVENTOR. GLENN "E.WH.EELER.

ATTORJVZL'YS.

Sept. 30, 1952 G. E. WHEELER 2,612,356

APPARATUS FOR CARRYING AND ADJUSTABLY POSITIONING ELONGATED ARTICLES Filed Dec. 2, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 l I I n 7 l l A JNVENTOR. GLENN Ewu EELER.

ATTORNEYS Sept. 30, 1952 G. E. WHEELER 2,612,366

APPARATUS FOR CARRYING AND ADJUSTABLY POSITIONING ELONGATED ARTICLES Filed D80. 2 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 JNVENTOR.

A'TTORIVE Y5.

6 LEN N EWH EELER.

Patented Sept. 30, 1952 APPARATUS FOR- CARRYING AND AD- J USTABLY POSITIONING ELONGATED ARTICLES Glenn E. Wheeler, Hamburg, N. Y., assignor to Republic Steel Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of New Jersey Application December 2, 1948, Serial No. 63,168

' 3 Claims. 1

The present invention relates generally to lifting and carrying apparatus and is more particularly concerned with novel apparatus for portably carrying and adjustably positioning elongated articles such as conduits for delivering fluids or gases into furnaces and the like.

In the operation of open hearth and electric furnaces it has heretoforebeen customary in introducing fluid. delivery conduits, electric arc bars and similar articles into the furnaces through openings in their side walls or doors. to employ pedestals or wheeled carriages which rest upon the floor adjacent to the furnace charging doors. Devices of this kind, however, are always in the way to some extent and impair the furnace operators and require frequent movement about at considerable effort. Furthermore, they are of very limited utility because of the difi'iculty of theiradjustment and manipulation to position the conduits, bars, etc. Still further, the external connections to a source of fluid pressur or electricity, depending upon the type of equipment being used, are difficult to make in a manner which will render the devices in any way satisfactory to use and at the same time will not congest the way around the furnaces and interfere with the furnace operators in their work. v

In accordancewith the present invention all these difliculties can, for, the first time to my knowledge, be effectively eliminated by means which are, not only economical and practical to install and use,.but require a minimum of effort and time for adjustment. The present apparatus is preferably mounted on the side of the furnace above the openings through which conduits, bars or the like carried by the apparatus are to be introduced into the furnace. Thus, the'present apparatus is adjustable by an operator standing before the furnace, but at the same time is not in his way as he goes about his other tasks and does not'involve the disposition in the operators way of various electric lines, and fluid lines and reservoirs. Also, in accordance with my preferred practice of this invention, two or more bars, conduits, or the like can be carried by the apparatus for simultaneous introduction into or withdrawal from the furnace, the operation being performed by one actuating means whereby time, labor and effort in the operation of the furnace are materially reduced.

vention, upon reference to the following detailed description of my apparatus in one form considered'in conjunction with the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of apparatus of this invention'carried by and disposed adjacent to a conventional open hearth furnace, a side wall of which is indicated fragmentarily and in outline;

A Figure 2 is an elevational view of a portion of the conduit-carrying mechanism of Fig. 1, con stituting an operable unit;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 1, showing the conduit carried by the apparatus disposed partially within the furnace; and I Figure 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing the conduit in alternative position and out- Other desirable features and advantages of the present invention willbecome clear to those skilled in the art, as will the details of the construction and preferred embodiment'of this inside the furnace.

' Very generally the apparatus of the present invention comprises a rotatable shaft to which is attached a radially extending arm and with which is engaged means for rotating the shaft and thereby moving the arm about it as a pivot. In addition, means are pivotally connected to the arm for engaging and holding between its ends an article to be carried by the apparatus, and means including a lever are secured to the said article and movable relative to the arm for moving the ends of the article relative to the arm and the shaft.

More in detail, as viewed in Fig. 1, the rotatable shaft IU of the apparatus illustrated herein extends horizontally, paralleling the adjacent furnace wall H above openings [2 therein through which tubular articles or lances 13 for delivering oxygen into the furnace are temporarily disposed. Shaft I0 is journalled between its ends in bearing blocks I4 carried by two operators platforms l5 disposed adjacent to but on opposite sides of openings l2 so that the way between the openings is clear of supporting structures so far as possible. At its ends opposite the center portion of each platform 15, the shaft is received in housings II and engaged with a conventional worm-type speed reduction unit which is driven by means of a chain wheel 20 associated with the speed reduction .unit through a shaft 2| and rotatable from the furnace charge level by an operator by means of an endless chain 23 carried by the wheel and extending downwardly through a slot 24 provided in the platform to receive the wheel and chain. Adjacent to its ends and on'either side of the 3 two bearings, shaft I is provided with counterweights for a purpose subsequently tobe described.

An arm or lever 21 is keyed to the shaft at a,

point opposite the centerline of each opening l2 so that the arm may be movedthroughan arc of at least 90 to carry the article frdma position such as indicated in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4. At the lower end of each of the arms 21 a link 29 is pivoted for limited motion relative to the arm under the influence of gravity so Y that lance I 3 extending through the link and gripped thereby between its inner and outer ends will be able to move relative 'to the arm to assume the positions indicated in said Figs. 1 and, 3 and thereby facilitate introduction of the lance into the furnace and removal therefrom. ,Also

connected to the cold or outer end 'of each lance I 3 is a second pivoted link 32 which. securely lower end of the pusher rod 36 is received in a pu her s a d 3. hi h is esse t a y a ydra lic piston c li de th p sher od constitut g th piston and the hydraulic fluid being delivered to he c lind r f ma su tab e es u e ou n t hown) under the c nt ol of t e f n e op ators by means of a suitable valve (also not shown). Slide is disposed outside shaft Hi, i. e. the shaft is between the slide and wall H.

Oi the various flexible and rigid conduits il-.

lustrated in the drawings, 40 indicates hoses con! necting lat ces [3 with a source (not shown) of oxygen, and 42 and 43 identify the lines of .the cooling water system for water jacketed furnace doors 46 which close openin s 12. The door u ture. as Welle t mean fo c oling h door, including lines 42 and 43 and the-source of cooling water (not shown), are of conventional form. Likewise, the-door lifting and lowering mechanism, including sheaves 50, counterweights t shown) and c bl s 52, runn n ver. the

sheaves and connecting doors 46 and the coun terweights, are of conventional design and do not form a part of the present invention.

In the operationof the device illustrated, with,

the lances n h posi ion ind a d in Fi s- 1. 2 nd 3. to change the posi i n of e zzl nds of the lances with respect to the furnace melt, it is only necessary to raiseor drop slides 35 by opening the appropriate valves controlling the hydraulic pressure in the pusher stand cylinders and thereby-causing rods 36 to move upwardly or downwardly the desired distance. Such a pusher rod and slide motion will result in vertical motion of levers 33, links 32 and the extremities of the lances, the amount of movementof the lance nozzles being multiplied because of the relative proximity of the pivots, i. e. links 29, to the cold ends of the lances. If, in addition to, or instead of, such vertical motion, it is desired to move the dependin upon t e d recti n in which? th s aft is to be rotated and how the n zzl s a o be moved. When there are two or more operators or the controls for this apparatus are placed conveniently for simultaneous operation by one operator, these motions may be effected simultaneously, thus enabling sharp control over furnace operation, an important consideration in connection with the use of elemental oxygen in jet form on baths of molten steel. When it is desired to remove the lances from the furnace and dispose them out of the way, as at the time that the furnace is being charged or prepared to receive arnew heat, the operator may pull one of the other of the chains 23 to rotate shaft I0 and move arms 21 through furnace wall openigngs 12 iron; theposition shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig. 4. Due to weight and position the relationship between counterweights '25 and arms 2! and the way in which the counterweights are secured to the shaft, the mass of said counterweights becomes effective as an aid to oi ns and liftin apparatus. in lu in h ms links and levers. as .wellas th l ne s theml e when weight thereof becom s urd ns me in the course of shifting the lanc sabo C nseduently the .cQntlDl and operation of this app r ma be handled readily by a sin l one a or withou demandin of him ve y much physicaleffort. .At the same time hat theshaft is being rotated, the slide may be run .up to its maximum he ht, .as indicated inFig. 4, so as o brin th nozzle that muc hi he than the char in level and assure the removal of the enses f m. the perators way ou d the nace inso ar po ibl Be-introduc .n o the lances into the furnaoe mayb oomnlis ed by rotating s t It n he opp s te d rection throu h pulling the apop at throw of on .the chains 23 an po s bly also droppin slide block 5. b m ulati n of the v ves cont ollin theflow of hyd u o fluidout of the usher s ands 39- l-laving thus described the present invention so at th e kill d in the art may be .able to .understand and practice the same, "I state that what I desire to secureby Letters Patent is ole-.- fined in what is claimed- W is cl imed is:

1. Apparatus for moving an elongated article in n op ning in a side wall of a furna e which comprises a rotatable shaft, disposed horizonally o e said opening an arm keyed to and extending downwardly from said shaft, an elongated article connected between its inner and outer ends to the lower end of saidarm and dispo d at substant a l gh n es to said haft, nd means o rotate said sh t d move t o a ed a ticle .endwise- 2- .Aoparatus o ovin n elon a ed article n o ening in a i e wall o .a furnace whic c m r ses a rota abl s aft d sp sed h rizonl y above said opening, an arm key d t and x endin downward y from said shaman elonsated art le conne ted b tween its inn rand outer ends to the lower end of said arm and dis.- posed at substantially right angles to said shaft, a vertically movable slide, a lever connected to the ut end, .oi said elongated article and pivd at its other e d to sa d slide, and meansto reciprocate said slide vertically.

3, A pa atus for m ving a on at d article in an opening in a side Wall of a furnace which om risesza. l'Otatable shaft disposed hgrjzon ll QPDVQ Sa d Q l i lgan arm keyed t and extend-mg, downwardly r m sa d shaft, an elonated article connected between inner and outer ends to the lower end of said arm and disposed at substantially right angles to said shaft,

a vertically movable slide, a lever connected to the outer end of said elongated article and pivoted at its other end to said slide, means to rotate said shaft and move the elongated article endwise, said means including a speed reducer connected to said shaft, and means to reciprocate said slide vertically.

. GLENN E. WHEELER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name 'Date 1,942,925 Jenkins Jan. 9, 1934 2,171,028 Gelb Aug. 29, 1939 Slottman July 5, 1949 

